Friday, August 12, 2016

How To Peel A Mango

It's the saddest thing to me, when someone doesn't like mangoes because they seem like too much of a hassle to eat, since there's no obvious way to peel them, and they have that big pit. I think mangoes are the most glorious fruit on earth. I have a couple of techniques for peeling them and removing the pit; one that I grew up with, and one that I learned as an adult and now prefer. I'm going to show you my favorite way, which takes me no more than a minute to execute, and hopefully eating mangoes won't seem like such a chore. As some readers have pointed out, this is the method that gets your hands messier. But it's fun! I'll show the other method soon!

First, be prepared for some juice. Depending on the ripeness and variety of mango, there can be a lot of liquid released while you work. I like to use a plate to catch the delicious juices that are released during the peeling process, rather than having liquid running all over my cutting board.

With a sharp knife, slice just a couple millimeters deep all the way around the mango, from the stem end back around until the slice comes full circle. Then turn the mango 90 degrees, and cut again in a full circle, just through the skin, until you have four separate sections of peel.

Starting from the bottom of the mango, take a corner of the sliced peel and lift it up and away from the fruit. It can be as easy as peeling a banana. Sometimes the peel will cling more to the fruit, and sometimes it tears a bit as you work, but just do the best you can, repeating the process with all four segments of the peel. You can always flip the mango over and work from the other end if that seems easier.

Once all the segments of skin are removed, you can use a knife to cut away the stem and any peel clinging to the mango anywhere. Peeling the entire thing takes under a minute, and then you are left with a gorgeous golden orb... Now, to get the pit out:

Holding the mango on it's end, slice down each side of the pit. The pit is long and flat, like a disc in the center of each fruit.

Once the pit is separated, you can cut more fruit off of it easily.

Eventually you will have two large mango sections, plus several smaller pieces from the ends of the pit. It gets super easy with practice.

Fresh mango is great on its own, in fruit salads, with yogurt and granola, or as a topping for pancakes or waffles. Enjoy!

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There really are at least a couple of better ways where you don't have to handle so much of the messy, slippery part (which can be dangerous) and you end up with nice clean slices or chunks and no waste. Here's a YouTube video of Jamie Oliver's techniques for starters...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bteSM5pH5H0